Method for covering a turntable



METHOD FOR COVERING A TURNTABLE Original Filed Jan. 21, 1929 I I6 I 24 g l Patented Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED sTArss PATENT OFFICE LE 30115112113, or oino, Assronon TO THE GENERAL mn us'rnrss oomranr, v or ,ELYRIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION or 01110 METHOD COVERING A TURNTABLE ori inal application and January a1, 1929, Serial No. 333,879. Divided and this application filed February 10, 1930.

My invention relates -to improvementsin phonograph turntables, and relates par-. t-icularly to a novel method and mediani'sm for applying circular cloth covers to the attached surface of a ,gphonograph turn-:

' table, and to the resultant product, com

prising a covered jturntable;

In the class-of phonograph mechanism known generally as gramophones, rotatable support for the disc phonograph records is commonly the form of a rotatable turn- .tabledisc, generally made of metal, although different materials have been used.

Usually, also, these turntables are provided with a tubular hub having aconical bore. In order to improve the acoustic properties of the phonograph and to avoid injury to the relatively soft disc phonograph records,-

such turntables are usually covered with a layer of soft material, such as a layer of felt, velvet, or the like, coat in the form of a disc, and'glued to the top surface of the turntable, and to increase friction with-the supported record. r

Such practice, prior to my invention, has been expensive in the preparation of the inverted turntables,- and the results have been non-uniform, in that it is difiicult to glue or otherwise adhesivelyflafiix a disc of textile material to the top surfaces of the turntable disc, with any degree of regularity and concentricity of the peripheral portions of the cloth disc and the turntable disc. 1

The cloth is flexible and yields to pulling and pushing stresses, and even though cut to true disc form initially, in application it is very difiicult to effect adhesion by an interposed cementitious substance, such as glue, without putting portions of the cover under greater stretchingstress than other portions, so that the disc form is lost'and portions of the cover extend further outwardly than=other portions.

Also it has been diflicult to adhesively afiix such a cloth cover to a phonograph turntable upper surface without leaving a rough selvageedge at the periphery of the cloth disc, and many relatively expensive expedients have been resorted to in "the attempt to conceal this irregular seIVage-edge of the cloth.

Serial No. 427,397.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to accomplish the correct placement of a cloth cover for phonograph turntable tops, concentrically of the turntable.

Another object of my invention is'to accomplish the aforesaid object with a cover havin a re ular si 'htl ed e ortion 2: 7 b o P a largely depressed below the surfaceof the other portions of the turntable. Another object of my invention is to ac-' complish the preceding object in an inex pensive manner. Another object of my invention is to provide an improved mechanism for covering phonograph turntables in an inexpensive, elficientrmanner. Other objects of my invention and the invention itself -will become apparent by reference to the'following descriptionof an embodiment process mechanism and phonograph turntable, which 31'6 11101'6 fully ex-'v I plained by the accompanying drawing illustrating the said embodiment. a Referring :to' the drawing- Y I v Fig. 1 illustrates'a plan View of covering material superposed over a phonograph turntable to becovered, indicated in dotted lines. .Fig. 2 is a viewpartiallyin-side elevation, and partially in longitudinal medial section, of the apparatus employed for covering :a

turntable top, and the turntable and cover therefore. V a a Fig. 3 is a view of a fragment of a cutting and forming wheel in engagement ewith'the' covering cloth previously placed: on the phonograph turntable andadhesively secured thereto, a fragment. ofthe turntable being sheet metah illust-rated at 1 in the different figures, and comprises :a hub '2 centrally affixed to the undersideo-f the turntable,:said hub preferably having a *frusto-conically other way, the turntable bored portion 21, into which the ta ered turntable supporting driving shaft 0" the usual phonograph may project.

The turntable comprises a relatively flat table portion 22 disposed intermediate acentrally disposed depressed portion 23 and a downturned rim flange lntermediatethe rim flange 24 and the table portion 22, I provide an annular shallow groove 19, adapted to receive the peripheral edge 20 of the cloth when ailixed to the turntable, as shown in Fig. 4. This groove is defii i'ed'by an inner downward sloping wall 17 and an outwardly disposed upwardly in lined wall 18.

l he'turntable is thus preliminarily formed with the groove 19 disposed exactly concentricwith the axis of the turntable, and having-a bottom-portion of sharply-defined U- secti-onal form, by the converging inner and outer walls 17 and 18. Or expressedin anportion'22 has an annular downwardly inclined portion 17 which abuts with an abruptly upwardly inclined ennula r portion 18, which supports the flange-d rim 24 of the turntable.

The turntable of Fig. .5 is first given a coat of glue, shellac, or other adhesive substance, over its entire turntable portion disposed inwardly from the lowermost port-ion of the groove 19, the portion 25 of theupper surface of the turntable disc, disposed outwardly from the groove 19, being left free from the adhesive. This may be safeguarded by covering the portion 25 with a. guarding annulus while the adhesive is applied to the inwardly disposed portions of the turntable upper surface,'or by the operator wiping the superfluous adhesive from the portion 25 be fore it is dried, and preferably after the cloth is out, as later described; I

7 To the prepared upper surface of the turntable, a sheet of the covering material, larger than the turntable, and in any desired form, such as inthe form of a square of the material 3, shown in Fig. 1, is laid on to the turntable and then pressed down tightly thereon so that the portion of the upper surface of the turntable coated with adhesive, will be caused to adhere tightly to the portion of the cloth disposed within the inner dotted circle indicated at 19, Fig. 1, and the cloth is, by pressure, caused to lie smooth on the said turntable surface, with the outer portions of the cloth indicated at 30, Fig. 2, extending outwardly over the bottom of the groove 19.

The covered turntable with the excess portion joined with thecemented portion of the cloth disposed inwardly from the bottom of the groove 19, is then placed on the tapered post- 4, with the tapered end of the post projected into the frustral conical bore portion 21 of the turntable hub 2. V

The post 4 is rotatably supported by the base 5 within bearings 32 and 42, adapted to permit free rotation of the post. The base 5 is carried on a support 6, which also carries by a bifurcated standard'29, a wheel 28, and by a standard 15 and cross piece 14, a cutting element including a supporting stem 10, j ournaled at 27 in the free end of the cross piece, for vertical reciprocation.

To the top end of the stem 10, a handle'll is afiixed, and a compressionspring'" 13 isi11 terposed between'the handle and the cross piece 14t0 retract the stem. The wheel 28 is positionedfor rotation on a shaft 33 extending transversely t-hrough the forks 34 and 35 of the support 29, being rotatable in a plane disposed at right angles to the plane of rotation. of the turntable 1, rotatable with the post .4, in bearings 32 and '42. The periphery 0f the wheel underlies the annularv groove 19 of the disc 1, to support it during the. cloth cutting operation, subsequently described. V i i The stem 10 carried at. its bottom end, a pair of spaced peripheral forks 9, upon which a rotary knife7 is j ournaled for rotation on a transverse shaft Scarried by the forks. The cutting edge 36 of the knife is formed by the meeting of the converginglateral peripheral surface 38, meeting preferably at approxi This angularity of meeting surfaces is found to be very eflicient for the purpose in-' tended, of forming the knife edge for cutting the cloth and for smoothing down the cutting edge 20 of the cloth, as illustrated in Fig. 4,

as subsequently described, although a cuttingedge formed by converging lateral surfaces.

of -the knife, disposed at relatively different angles, may be elhciently employed within the purview of my invention. The portion.

placed on the post 4 by its hubl2, as do scribed, and the supporting roller 28 underlying the grooved portion 19 of the turntable, the knife 7 beingplaced in the groove 19 by pressure preferably manually effected on the handle 11 against the powerv of the spring 13, cutting of the free lateral portions 30 of the cloth 3 is effected.

Cutting ofthe cloth will be effected while the downward manual pressure on the handle 11 continues, byrotation of the turntable 1 on the post 4, which preferably is rotatably j ournaled at 32and 42 in thesupporting post 5. Rotation of the turntable thus effected,

brings all portions of the cloth 20', lying within the annular depression 19, under the cutting edge 36 of the knife 7 and a shearing off of the cloth border 30 is accomplished, quickly, efficiently, and without extra waste of material over less satisfactory processes previously in use. i

The knife 7 is adapted for a certain amount of lateral movement on the shaft 8 and is guided to its proper laterally adjusted position by the underlying guiding groove 19 of the turntable; cutting of the cloth is effected by the shearing pressure exerted between the edge 36 and the bottom portion of the groove 19, the supporting roller 28 meanwhile supporting the turntable groove portion during cutting, without retarding its free rotation.

The turntable 1, after the shearing of the excess cloth 30, can be removed by an operator from the post 4 while the handle 11 is relieved of manual pressure.

The lateral surface 38 bordering the knife edge 36, during the above operation, presses the selvage edge portion, indicated by dotted lines at 20, Fig. 4, into the form indicated by the solid lines thereat, and the thinned edge thus formed is carried by the shoulder 18 abutting the groove 19.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 333,879, filed January 21, 1929.

Having thus described my invention in a particular embodiment, I am fully aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodiment process, mechanism and article of my invention, but without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. The method of covering phonograph turntables with a cloth of disc form disposed to adhere concentrically to the upper surface of the turntable, comprising the application of an adhesive to the turntable upper surface, then placing a sheet of the material larger than the surface of the turntable desired to be covered, leaving border portions of the material projecting laterally from the prepared surface, then rotating the turntable on a fixed axis while applying a cutting edge to the cloth material at a predetermined distance from the periphery of the turntable.

2. The method of covering a phonograph turntable grooved concentrically, with a cloth of disc form disposed to adhere to the upper surface of the turntable with its border disposed within said groove, comprising the application of an adhesive to the turntable upper surface, placing a sheet of the material larger than the surface of the turn table desired to be covered, leaving border portions of the material projecting laterally from the prepared surface, and rotating the turntable on a fixed axis while applying a cutting edge to the cloth material at a prebe covered, leaving border portions of the.

material projecting laterally from the'prepared surface, then rotating the turntable on a fixed axis while applying a cutting edge to the cloth material at a predetermined distance from the periphery of the turntable, meanwhile during cutting, simultaneously exerting flattening pressure on the portionsof the cloth contiguous to and inwardly from the cutting edge.

4. The method of covering a phonograph turntable which includes adhesively securing a piece of covering material to the top ofthe turntable and then severing the material along a circularline to form a cover, and pressing'the extreme peripheral edge of the cover upon the table to cause it to adhesively engage the table and to effect a tapering in thickness of the edge of said cover.

5. The method of covering a phonograph turntable which includes generally adhesively securing a piece of covering material to the top of the turntable and then concurrently rotating the turntable, cutting the material on a circular line to form a cover and rolhng the peripheral edge of the cover upon the table to further press the edge and the turntable into adhesive engagement and to generally bevel-form the said edge.

6. The method of covering a phonograph turntable which includes adhesively securing a piece of covering material to the top of V the turntable and then concurrently rotating the turntable and cutting the material on a circular line to form a cover.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 17th day of January, 1930.

LE 'BONSIEUR. 

